WORKSHOP 1

“... Uncharted territory presents its challenges, but I also saw it as a carte blanche for the development of new models, new strategies, and new possibilities.”

– Bisi Silva

Curator and founder of Centre for Contemporary Art (CCA), Lagos, speaking about building a local cultural and artistic ecosystem.

LAGOS, NIGERIA, April 2025 — Not the beginning of a journey, but a continuation. The African Film and Media Arts Collective (AFMAC) builds on the legacy and innovation of brilliant minds, picking up from where curators such as Bisi Silva, Okwui Enwezor, and Koyo Kouoh left off. Their work forged synapses across Africa that forever expanded a global audience’s understanding of artistic production and creative genius. AFMAC was founded as a means to continue this work, acting as a connective tissue that enables new conditions and perceptions of creation.

Led by a cohort of eight genre-defining artists and hosted by local partner organizations over the course of a year, the Collective is facilitating a series of workshops in major creative hubs across Africa. Along with the development of a new series of short films, AFMAC seeks to establish an intellectual infrastructure that solidifies artistic bonds between cities. The first stop—Lagos, with artist Coco Fusco.

“There’s this effervescent ... really charged excitement in the city of Lagos. You just feel it when you’re out on the streets.”

Julie Mehretu

Lagos is the most populous city on the African continent. Home to more than twenty million people, it is defined as a “megacity.” A hub and a heartbeat, it is pure energy and electricity. Lagos is dense, warm, vibrant, and pulsing—a place like no other.

A palimpsest of architectural styles is cut through by humming traffic and surrounded by a verdant lagoon. Nigeria, and Lagos in particular, is home to Nollywood, the second largest film industry globally, producing stories that are deeply resonant and nuanced, rooted in local realities. Lagos is also a bastion for contemporary art, boasting a vibrant gallery scene on Victoria Island and a number of pioneering arts organizations, including CCA Lagos, Guest Artists Space (GAS) Foundation, and our workshop hosts, Angels and Muse.

Founded by artist Victor Ehikhamenor, Angels and Muse is a nonprofit organization that nurtures and empowers creative local talents while connecting them to global opportunities. Located in the Ikoyi neighborhood of Lagos, the space hosted AFMAC’s film and media arts workshops, led by Fusco, during the day, as well as a welcome dinner, a public artist talk, and film screenings in the evening.

Open to emerging African filmmakers and media artists, the workshops are a space where co-creation and open dialogue manifest in a practical knowledge exchange with the lead artist, as well as more experimental forms of making.

“Angels and Muse was born out of the idea of creating a space for creatives—artists, writers, photographers. It was created for like-minded people to meet.”

Victor Ehikhamenor

“This project allows us to come together for the first time and have a conversation, and make and play and experiment. I hope that this reminds us to stay open. To be a channel.”

Mehret Mandefro

The next stop for the workshops will take place in Tangier with acclaimed director Zeresenay Berhane Mehari, hosted by Cinémathèque de Tanger. Join us on the journey.